A method and a device for driving at least one solenoid valve are described in German Patent No. 195 39 071. The solenoid valve is installed in an internal combustion engine to control the metering of fuel. To perform an accelerated start-up (energizing), the voltage applied to a booster capacitor is fed to the load. This means that the voltage supplied to the load at the start of the driving (activation) is elevated as compared to that used for the further driving.
Because of the high booster voltage and the energy extracted from the booster capacitor during injection, very high power losses occur in the output stage. This is due particularly to the fact that the voltage is generated using a dissipative DC/DC converter. Smaller booster voltages result in smaller booster currents, shorter booster times, a smaller power loss, but also in longer switching times for the solenoid valve.